archive: 2020
Did It Take Me Nearly Two Years to Finish This? Yep! | Review: Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
6:00 AM
Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas | Rating: ★★★☆☆"I once lived in fear of other people. I let other people walk all over me just because I was too afraid of the consequences for refusing. I did not know how to refuse.”
Oh, I had high hopes for Tower of Dawn. I always felt that Chaol Westfall had so much more to offer than we'd been given in the course of the series and Maas obviously felt the same too. Although I had a lot of love for Chaol at the start of Throne of Glass, my interest in him faded as his character became less and less like what I'd assumed he once was. Admittedly, this fact is what caused me to just procrastinate Tower of Dawn for as long as I have. I just didn't have enough interest in picking it up for these few months that I've had it in my possession.
Maas, of course, forever has a pull on me in spite of this. I picked it up one day and finished it within the span of two days. I'm going to be honest with you: Tower of Dawn is not my favourite installment in the series but it's still solid and thrilling to the extent that we all expect from Maas at this point. The woman knows how to pen a story and even the ones that aren't fully my cup of tea are beautifully crafted, quality stories that are equally romantic and full of fantasy.
Aelin had promised herself, months and months ago, that she would not pretend to be anything but what she was. She had crawled through darkness and blood and despair-she had survived.
It's official: Empire of Storms is the best (the bloody best) of the Throne of Glass series thus far. It will have you gasping for air by the final pages and well, I'm more than a little emotionally scarred by this beautiful novel. Finally! Throne of Glass is living up to its potential for me. That's the good news--the bad news is, I'm still not into Rowan but he is mostly growing on me and I'm trying to get used to him but eh, he left a bad taste in my mouth from the start.
Once more, Sarah J. Maas proves that her writing--her characters, the world-building--gets better at every release. It's easy to get lost in her fantasy-world. It's easy to root and hate certain characters. It is easy to love and become invested in this game of war. There's something undeniably intriguing and violent about Empire of Storms that sets it a part from its previous installments. And, I think, this cliffhanger is possibly one of the most thralling--and heartbreaking--releases as of yet.
Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas | Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5)She looked at them, at the three males who meant everything—more than everything. Then she smiled with every last shred of courage, of desperation, of hope for the glimmer of that glorious future. “Let’s go rattle the stars.”
Well, there goes that book. I'm burning through this series like mad. Okay. So. I have a lot of feelings about Queen of Shadows and more than my fair share of disappointments. While I feel, 100%, that this was an improvement on Heir of Fire I will never not think that the series needs to live up to its full potential. Further, I felt that a lot of the characters were acting more out of their own traits than usual (Chaol, Aelin) and--frankly--was more than a bit confused by a lot of things.
First: Aelin is still one bad b*tch and I love her. It felt like a lot of her previous development from the first three books was wasted/ignored this go around but not everything. She was still partly the woman we love; the queen, the assassin, the lover, etc. Aelin is hands-down one of the best in this series and there's no going around that. What I didn't like, however, was the relationship with Rowan. I missed the focus on her relationship (i.e: friendships) with Dorian and Chaol (I missed both of them in general--Dorian was possessed the entire time basically and Chaol just... wasn't Chaol) and felt like it really deteriorated the quality of the novel.
“You collect scars because you want proof that you are paying for whatever sins you've committed. And I know this because I've been doing the same damn thing for two hundred years. Tell me, do you think you will go to some blessed Afterworld, or do you expect a burning hell? You're hoping for hell--because how could you face them in the Afterworld? Better to suffer, to be damned for eternity and--” Review also found here.
I couldn't for the life of me decide if I wanted to rate this a 2 or a 3. I've said it before in the past that I have rather lukewarm feelings for the series. While, without a doubt, the second installment in Sarah J. Maas' Throne of Glass series, Crown of Midnight was ions better than the introduction, the third didn't quite do it for me in the same way that TOG didn't.
In fact, I was very underwhelmed. A good chunk of the story was spent not really connecting to the characters; despite enjoying them and the world-building. I was a bit intrigued but nothing to write home about. I felt like, in the case of Heir of Fire a lot of development was undone or cast aside for one thing or another. I still love Celeana/Aelin, Dorian and Chaol--and I was interested in a few of the new faces we meet. I didn't mind Sorscha half as much as other fans did. I liked Manon well enough although her chapters weren't always the strongest of the novel. I was intrigued by Aedion and his backstory.
Crown of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas | Rating: ★★★★☆There had never been any line between them, only his own stupid fear and pride. Because from the moment he'd pulled her out of that mine in Endovier and she had set those eyes upon him, still fierce despite a year in hell, he'd been walking toward this, walking to her. So Chaol brushed away her tears, lifter her chin, and kissed her.
I opened Crown of Midnight with equal parts hopefulness and hesitance. On one hand, I knew that Sarah J. Maas has this gift of words--fleshed out characters, the world building of A Court of Thorns and Roses. On the other hand, I wasn't altogether wowed by the introduction to the series in Throne of Glass. I liked the characters and the plots just fine, and it was enough for me to pick up this book, but not enough for me to sit still and read it straightaway.
In fact, if I'm being quite honest, I was on the verge of setting the book aside for the first quarter of it. I felt not unlike I did during Throne of Glass in the sense that it was just okay. I enjoyed it but wasn't captivated. In true Sarah J. Maas fashion, however, when I picked it up again and stuck to it the novel was as compelling as it could get. Back were the elements of violence and intrigue; a word of royalty and the probability of magic. Not to mention friendships, romance and enemies.
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas | Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5)
“You could rattle the stars," she whispered. "You could do anything, if only you dared. And deep down, you know it, too. That’s what scares you most.”
I should clarify right off the bat that I didn't hate Throne of Glass at all. If I am honest, it was compelling enough to want to continue the series but it didn't necessarily wow me as much as the incredible Sarah J. Mass' A Court of Thorns and Roses books did. You know what I mean? I enjoyed the novel as an introduction but I have one foot on the outside of the line just as a precaution.
That being said... I can't pinpoint the exact plotlines that just lacked compulsion for myself. I enjoyed the characters. The plots. The action. The mystery. The intrigue. But, but, but--some parts felt familiar even the first time I read Throne of Glass that combined both unique traits and lackluster, common ones. I felt that a lot could have been upgraded throughout each chapter and that because of this, more than a few moments dragged by slowly.
Besides the minor, obvious flaws: I still thought the novel was entertaining. Although many things felt like an echo of other stories, there were many more positives than negatives. The characters were awesome and I can't just pick out my favourites from a line-up. No favourite ships, no favourite characters, because all of them have this equally fulfilling chemistry and intrigue to them. I'm not saying that others don't, or won't, have their own favourites but for me what made Throne of Glass all the more enjoyable was because I seemed to have a level like for almost everything.
